Case Number 25408

SUSHI GIRL (BLU-RAY)

The Charge

Revenge is a dish best served raw.

Opening Statement

As a fan of the kind of exploitation filmmaking that played in the 42nd
Street grindhouse theaters many years ago, I tend to be skeptical of the modern
day films that try to recapture that aesthetic. While I can appreciate the
attempt to shine a positive light onto a much maligned era of cinema, it's
fundamentally a lie. Roughing up footage and eliminating reels may be an
accurate portrayal of the shabby way those movies were treated, but in a
professional production, it's the very definition of slumming. Those filmmakers
would have loved the kind of budget and support that Quentin Tarantino gets, but
they didn't, so they made the only kind of movie they could afford. Once in a
while, though, a movie gets the spirit right without the trappings of cheapness,
and that's the kind of thing that I love to support. Luckily, Sushi Girl
is just such a movie.

Facts of the Case

Upon his release from prison, Fish (Noah Hathaway, The NeverEnding
Story) is brought to an abandoned restaurant by his old associate, Duke
(Tony Todd, Candyman), to celebrate his newfound freedom. Also invited
are Crow (Mark Hamill, Britannia Hospital), Max (Andy Mackenzie,
MacGruber), and Francis (James Duvall, The Doom Generation), but
these five aren't just old friends. They worked together in the job gone wrong
that sent Fish behind bars. It's not just a celebration, either; there's
unfinished business that Duke is determined to solve, but he wanted to have
dinner first, at least.

The Evidence

With its cast of older, often forgotten b-level character actors and vague
plot similarities to Reservoir Dogs, I was nervous that this would be
some kind of Tarantino knock-off. Sushi Girl wears its influences on its
sleeve, but other than that, it's very much its own movie. This is ultra-violent
crime exploitation in the grindhouse tradition, but it's also a slickly produced
and well-structured debut feature (come to think of it, that sounds a whole lot
like Reservoir Dogs, after all). Director Kern Saxton uses his low budget
extremely well and Sushi Girl may well end up with a cult status along
with the films he emulates.

Saxton keeps nearly the entire plot within the restaurant, and really only
one room of it at that, which gives Sushi Girl time to breathe and keeps
the budget focused where it needs to be: on the look and feel of the film. On
both of those fronts, Sushi Girl is a winner. The cinematography by Aaron
Meister, in one the first feature projects of his own young career, is frankly
gorgeous. He makes the room, with its tons of deep shadows, into something of a
character in itself. There's an oppressive atmosphere in there that works very
well with the story and gives the actors room to do their magic. Between him and
the lighting, there's a lot more of a budget on display than actually
exists.

Sushi Girl will get its biggest press notices from its cast. The five
principles are a fantastic and unlikely ensemble that is so much fun to watch.
Tony Todd is a great leader of the group; his quietly intimidating demeanor and
sheer mass make him as perfect for this role as he was to play a supernatural
killer. James Duvall, whose character role filmography appears poised to take on
Carradine-level numbers, and Noah Hathaway, in his first appearance onscreen in
nearly twenty years, both succeed in their more subdued roles, and Andy
Mackenzie plays a heck of a psycho. Mark Hamill, though, is both terribly
menacing and absolutely hilarious as the ambiguously sexual sadist. He voiced
the Joker for years in animation and video games, so he clearly has a talent for
insane menace, but I would love to see him in more live-action roles like
this.

Danny Trejo (Machete), Michael Biehn (The Terminator), Jeff
Fahey (Guns, Girls and Gambling), and the venerable Sonny Chiba (The
Storm Riders) all make extremely brief appearances. Those names may have
been some of the reason I was nervous about the stunt casting, as their roles
are brief enough to be little distraction. Finally, I would be remiss in not
mentioning our titular Sushi Girl, Cortney Palm, in her first major film role.
She has no dialog until the very end of the film, but her character is built
very well without it. Named for the less-than-reputable Yakuza practice of
hiring a woman to be a silent, unmoving human platter for a sushi dinner, her
entire personality is built by her minimal reactions and her delivery in the big
finish is great. I expect she'll be an actress to watch in the near future.

Kern Saxton puts this whole package together very well, with a strong,
well-paced story, fantastically overheated dialog, and a ton of hard-R violence.
He keeps it very much in the spirit of old style exploitation without winking at
the camera and it's a lot of fun to watch.

Additionally, Magnolia Home Entertainment provides a Blu-ray that exceeds
all expectations. The film was shot on the Red One camera and the resulting
2.40:1/1080p image looks fabulous throughout. It's crisp and clean, with a ton
of little detail apparent all over the place and deep shadows. Flesh tones are
basically perfect and, for a low budget feature like this, it all fares
surprisingly well. The sound mix is done extremely well, too. Most movies of
this stature are luckily to get a surround mix that uses the rear speakers at
all, but this gets a full-blown 7.1 presentation. There are a ton of spatial
effects and great use of all speakers, with voices changing direction as the
camera moves about the room and horns, sirens, and general atmospheric sound
constantly audible.

In line with the rest of the disc is the simply unnecessary number of
special features. Not that I don't appreciate it, but Oscar winners don't
normally get this kind of treatment. It starts with two audio commentaries, the
first with the production team and the second with the principle cast. Both are
amiable, enjoyable and give unique perspectives on the process of making this
thing. These are followed by an hour long featurette on the production and a
much shorter one referred to as "Producer's Diaries." Three fake
commercials vaguely related to the film are a fun inclusion and the entire
storyboard on the disc is a first for me. The rest of the slate, which includes
a ridiculously long outtakes reel, a pair of galleries, interviews, a music
video, and trailer spots, is all of limited value. Regardless, there are more
supplements here than on a lot of Criterion discs, so those who take to Sushi
Girl will have a lot to chew on.

Closing Statement

Sushi Girl may not qualify as great cinema, but I would definitely
recommend it to 70s exploitation fans looking for something new to scratch that
itch. It has all the trappings of a movie that will attain cult status and,
while I have no idea whether it will find its audience, those who see it will
get a kick out of it. With a fully loaded Blu-ray disc to support it, this is
definitely something that lovers of wanton violence will want to look for.